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Overview

The helmet is an original sculpt, cast in fiberglass and detailed with both found and machined items. The helmet was painted and heavily weathered for filming using Floquil model train paints and Grumbacher Miskit Liquid Frisket for masking. There are a few different styles of paintwork as Fett's character evolved from the concept sketches to film.

There were originally 6 "hero" helmets and at least 2 "stunt" helmets that were made. The hero helmets were all originally painted white, with very little painted detail. At this point the Fett costume was intended to be an elite Stormtrooper division, dubbed "Super Trooper". When this concept was scrapped and the costume was re-imagined as a single character. The helmets were reworked to include the dent as well as highly detailed paint jobs. While the paint job differs from helmet to helmet, each helmet appears to have been pulled from the same mould. The helmets are named as follows:

- Preproduction 1 (aka eyes helmet, ears helmet, prepro1 or pp1): This helmet has a unique look by having "eyes" added to the dome of the helmet.

- Preproduction 2 (aka prepro2 or pp2): This is the helmet seen in many early publicity stills as well as the Boba Fett Cardboard standee. This helmet was re-cast for the Don Post (DP) helmet line and is currently privately owned.

- Preproduction 3 (aka, prepro3 or pp3): This helmet is nearly identical to the ESB Hero. This helmet was 3D scanned for the Master Replicas (MR) helmet line.

- The Empire Strikes Back Hero (aka ESB hero): This helmet is the most recognized variant of all Boba Fett's helmets. The helmet was used exclusively in the filming of The Empire Strikes Back and was also used in the Star Wars Special Edition (SE). It is also seen briefly in ROTJ as a stunt helmet.

- Return of the Jedi Hero (aka RotJ Hero): This helmet is the primary helmet used in the filming of Return of the Jedi.

- "Sandy" Helmet: This helmet is painted in a similar style to the prepro2 helmet but was never used. It has taken serious damage over the years and now resides in the LFL archives. It is named "Sandy" in honor of the woman who painted it. She also painted the prepro2 and the RotJ hero helmets.

- Stunt Helmets (aka ESB Stunt): These helmets appear to be vac-u-formed. They are loosely painted in the style of the ESB hero helmet. These helmets are also in the LFL archives.

The helmet breakdown:

- There is the helmet frame

- Cheek detail (aka data port): A 3-Hole Borden Connector was used as the side cheek data port. This is a tool used by dentists.

- Smoked Macrobinocular Viewplate (aka T-visor)

- Right ear: (same side as range finger). Consisting of a lower earpiece, upper ear base and upper ear cap. The upper ear cap is removable and held in place with magnets.

- Left ear cap

- Key hole detail: This is a circuit board from a Casio MQ-1 Calculator. It is glued on the inside of the helmet and is visible through the key slots.

- Rangefinder, see Boba Fett Helmet Rangefinder[/wiki]

The Rangefinder Breakdown:

1. Stalk: Custom Machined

2. Outer Shell: Most likely a sculpted piece, but strongly resembles the head of a record player needle cover.

4. Viewfinder: From a Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera that is seen on the ESB helmet only. (Note that model 2 & 3 have a different and incorrect lens)

5. LEDs: Two red conical LEDs are seen from the top and one LED that is viewable through the viewfinder. They flash back-and-forth only when the range finder is in the 'Down' position

- Helmet interior: On the interior of the helmet there are two D-Rings that are glued to the left inner cheek for the chin strap to tie too. A head restraint was inserted inside the helmet, similar to those found in construction hardhats. The chin strap is speculated to come from a late 1970's British SWAT Riot helmet. Riddell and Master Replicas (MR) have released a scaled helmet with a highly detailed interior that some individuals have incorporated into their helmets. These details are not screen accurate but are far more intriguing than what is found inside the screen used helmets.

- Electronics: Electronics were used to power and control the LEDs in the rangefinder. They may have also allowed the range finder to move up and down.

Super Trooper Boba Fett Helmet

At one point, at least 5 of the 6 original fiberglass Boba Fett helmets were painted white and created as Super Trooper Helmets. These helmets lacked Boba Fett's iconic dent which was added to each helmet individually at a later date using a casting of the same dent that is found in C-3PO's head. Photos of these helmets are limited and it is not clear which helmet is which since they are all white. For practicality, we are lumping all 5 (the 6th helmet was painted grey, not white) together as a single helmet.

Preproduction 2 Boba Fett Helmet

The Prepro2 Helmet that was sent to Don Post to be cast for their helmet line, who may have ended up damaging the helmet during the molding process. The Helmet never returned to Lucasfilm Archives.

Originally this Helmet along with the Rocket Pack was stolen (not clear if any more of the Prepro Suit was also stolen). However, the Helmet and Jet Pack have resurfaced since it went missing.

The story about how the helmet resurfaced is an interesting one. The helmet was brought to a popular auction house with hopes of being sold for approx $80k. However, the auction house looked into the background of this particular piece and was told by Gary Kurtz (or Joe Johnston?) that it was indeed a helmet that had been stolen. Fortunately, a number of photos of the helmet where taken. Unfortunately, the Helmet, sadly, is in VERY bad shape.

The Empire Strikes Back Boba Fett Helmet

One could argue that the Empire Strikes Back style is the most widely loved of the various Fett helmets.

The helmet was used exclusively in the filming of The Empire Strikes Back and was also used in the Star Wars Special Edition Boba Fett (SE). It is also seen briefly in Return of the Jedi as a stunt helmet.

This helmet has been displayed at the Art of Star Wars Exhibit as well as at the Celebration IV Exhibit.

Return of the Jedi Boba Fett Helmet

The RotJ helmet helmet is very similar in style to what was seen pre-production, similar in style as in the Empire Strikes Back: green dome, red visor, green back... but all of the shades are different, and the weathering is a radically different style from the previous movie.

Things to note about the RotJ helmet:

- 18 Orange kill stripes.

- The upper cheek area is a blueish green color, vs. the black ESB.

- The weathering, particularly on the back, is MUCH less detailed and precise.

- There's a lot of subtlety in the weathering on the cheeks.

- Visor is dark smoked acrylic.

- The small lens on the underside of the rangefinder is missing.

This helmet has been displayed at the Magic of Myth Exhibit as well as at the Trisha Bigger Exhibit.